Thursday, January 31, 2013

Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh lashed out at Mexican immigrants Wednesday in a radio rant that portrayed them as lazy and government-dependent -- the latest in a series of anti-Mexican statements spouted off by far-right conservatives angered by the possibility of a deal to pass a bipartisan immigration reform.

Ok - The Gadfly wishes to state something for the official record here.

The Gadfly, having lived now for 27 years in the bastion of Mexican immigration, Southern California, can unequivocally report that he has met many Mexican immigrants, both legal and illegal (not to mention other immigrants from all parts of Latin America). To nearly the every single one, The Gadfly can tell you that he has not met harder working, more grateful, more friendly, more all around decent human beings than these.

The immigrants whom The Gadfly speaks of, quite simply put, are significantly more honorable individuals than the fat ass, pill popping, thrice married, riches flaunting human dildo who calls himself Rush Limbaugh - as well as all of his ditto head fan boys and girls who populate trailer parks and rural asshole pits across America.

In fact, The Gadfly refuses to even put these good immigrant people whom he has met on the same level of worthiness of respect as Mr. LimpBalls and friends. There is, frankly, no rational comparison.

Nonetheless, Mr. LimpBall's hateful tirade was wholly expected. The President is talking about immigration reform this week and Limpy Dick needs something to whip his brain dead dildo head followers into a frothy mouthed frenzy over. It must be factually observed, however, that Limpy doesn't contribute anything positive to American culture. He's never worked a hard day in his life. He has enough money to buy his way out of drug offenses and failed marriages and to live in a heavily guarded and gated community. And so since he really is nothing but a human pile of shit - he plies his stock in trade -- hate, misinformation and goggle-eyed xenophobia, and targets the lowest common denominator goons in the country to parrot his bile among their kind.

It is quite the sad spectacle - knowing that Limpdick's pathetic folowers refuse to see what he truly is - a selfish, hateful, hypocritical know-nothing with a big mouth who has some deep pocketed puppet masters in the right wing media mafia. Those followers might be impressed by Limpball's money and exalted position within the (thankfully) dying conservative movement -- but The Gadfly is not, never was and never will be.

After coming off an election shellacking which saw the Republican vision wholesale rejected by a crushing majority of Latinos, Blacks, Asians, women and youth - the fact that the national GOP's answer to that conundrum is to try and rig the electoral college system at the state's level to favor their candidate - even if said candidate loses by a clear majority in the statewide vote count - says everything one needs to know about the bone-chilling fear that the Republican party is facing as rapidly changing national demographics steadily trend against them.

If the poobahs in the GOP hierarchy truly believe that they are fooling anyone with their juvenile Dr. Evil plan of playing bait and switch with the state's electoral votes, they have underestimated most American's penchant for a fair fight --- infinitely more than they over estimated Mitt Romney's viability as a likable Presidential candidate.

The Gadfly sees this form of election manipulating nefariousness as an outright admission by conservatives and the GOP that they cannot compete on a national level in the arena of ideas and vision and likability. The GOP, if they go through with these plans to jury rig the state electoral apportionment process, can, and should, very well be considered the Lance Armstrong of political parties --- lying, conniving, unscrupulous, cowardly cheaters.

Hopefully the few remaining sane and honest Republicans will convince the Teahadists that election rigging simply will make the GOP no different than the 3rd world banana republics which they rail against and like invading. However, The Gadfly is not convinced that these gutless radicals will listen to reason though so it is up to the American people to slap them down and demand that the bastards fight fair or suffer the wrath of a people who don't take kindly to cheaters and frauds who might monkey around with the constitutionally guaranteed right of a citizen to cast a vote and have it count as it should count.

The Gadfly has been waiting for quite some time for a public figure to address the gun goonery/manhood dynamic in American culture. As seems typical about important subjects like this these days, it is addressed by a comedian. The Gadfly isn't going to complain though, as the comedians appear to be the only public figures who entirely get these issues and therefore their perspective is the one most likely to get through to a wider audience as opposed to one of the talking puppetoons in our lapdog news media.

Watch HBO's Bill Maher address the subject. Watch him ask the important questions. Then ask yourself whether Maher has a valid point or not.

It goes without saying that the Gadfly does not need to ask himself this question. The Gadfly has seen evidence of this American manhood issue up close and personal and has been alluding to this problem in his posts for some time.

It reflects on our entire culture and it drives our political discourse and to the rest of the world it truly does make us look like a bunch of fearful little boys, who unable to deal with the world around us, resort to using weapons and macho behavior as a substitute for maturity and thoughtfulness and courage - specifically courage in doing the right thing at the right time.

It is also reason #1 why The Gadfly attempts (not always successfully) to avoid debates with his gun goonery pals as he knows it is the equivalent of arguing with adult versions of Eddie Haskell.

Watch the video. Tell The Gadfly Bill Maher is wrong (and if you do, explain why you think so).

Please make them stop. FOR THE LOVE OF HUMANITY!!! Somebody please put an end to this insane idiocy:

Cindy Yorgason was in line at the J.C. Penney in Riverdale on Wednesday when she looked up and saw a shopper with "a large gun."

Yorgason said the rifle was slung across the back of the man in front of her. When she looked closer, she saw that he also had extra ammunition clips and a sidearm in a holster on his right hip.

"It wasn’t small," Yorgason said of the pistol.

Amid a "lot of raised eyebrows" Yorgason quickly snapped a pair of photos, which she said have been going viral on Facebook ever since. She also said the first store clerk whom the man approached refused to serve him, and everyone in the vicinity "wanted to get away."

On Thursday, 22-year-old Joseph Kelley identified himself as the man in Yorgason’s pictures. Kelley described himself as a firm believer in Second Amendment rights and said he decided to bring the guns to the store to demonstrate that they are not dangerous in the hands of law-abiding citizens.

...Kelley added that he carries weapons to protect children and other people from "criminals, cartels, drug lords" and other "evil men."

The Gadfly can fucking damn well guarantee that a crushing majority of Americans do not favor the gun goon guy's vision of an America where a trip to the local shopping mall entails slinging high powered weaponry over one's shoulder and strapping on ammunition packs.

What the fuck is wrong with these people? No - seriously - what the fuck kind of bad wiring is in these people's brains??

And the Gadfly just had to laugh uproariously at the gun goon guy's justification for his little stunt claiming that he was just out to protect children and other people from "criminals, cartels, drug lords" and other "evil men."

Hmmm . . . The Gadfly will admit that he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he is quite certain that the lingerie section at JC Penney is the last place any "criminals, cartels, drug lords" and other "evil men" would be found plying their dastardly trade.

The Gadfly believes that if this moron and his pals are so hopped up to fight "criminals, cartels, drug lords" and other "evil men," then draft their redneck asses in to the DEA or ATF and send them down to Mexico where the real action is at. Lord knows we could use a few Rambos down there right now.

But the Gadfly knows that will not happen. The truth of the matter is that these gun goon toads talk a big game, but in reality, for most of them, their gun is nothing more than an extension of their very small dicks and walking around in public with an assault rifle slung over their shoulders nurtures their Napoleonic complex and strokes their self esteem. It's all they have. Without their guns to demonstrate their manhood, they are just lost, fearful little piss-ant boys -- afraid to confront and deal with the changing world around them and so they take solace in the cold steel of their death dealing devices and the fear that those devices instill in their fellow human beings.

What a sad, sad, sad state of affairs we have come to if these people are allowed to continue with this kind of childish, and obviously dangerous behavior.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

What does one do when a sizable portion of your fellow citizenry has simply gone off the rails on the Crazy Train??

Case in point:

The Sandy Hook "Truthers" are wreaking havoc in Newtown, Conn. and
across the United States, touting an elaborate conspiracy theory that
promotes the Dec. 14, 2012 massacre as a government-sponsored hoax to
influence firearm legislation.

In a YouTube
video called "The Sandy Hook Shooting - Fully Exposed." which has been
viewed 8.7 million times at the time of this posting, a user called
"TheOutsideTheTV" lays out 30 minutes worth of evidence to support the
ghastly claims of "deception surrounding the Sandy Hook shooting," using
raw video footage, news broadcast footage, and a hefty dose of
skepticism.

Echoing the cries of the "9/11 was
an inside job" proclaimers, the Sandy Hook "Truthers" harp on details
they say make it impossible for the massacre to have happened the way it
was reported to have happened.

The Gadfly refuses to post the actual video but did watch it in it's entirety.

The Gadfly made the determination that this video was pure, amateurish horseshit at around the 3:30 mark when purported video of a man (a 2nd or 3rd shooter?) chased into the woods and apprehended by police is narrated by some goofball from InfoWars.com.

For those of you unfamiliar with InfoWars.com, maybe you know it's leader - a guy named Alex Jones. He's a longtime conspiracy nut with a radio show and a website who has been making outrageous claims, never proven and often easily disproved, about everything from Lincoln's assassination to the Newtown, CT mass shooting. He's a fucking lying fraud and a loon and a fear mongering jackass and anyone who puts an ounce of credulity into his ravings should consider seeking mental health help themselves.

And please do take a few minutes out of your busy day to watch these videos of Alex Jones plying his trade on the airwaves. After watching them, come back here and tell The Gadfly that the guy isn't either certifiably insane or just a big phony loudmouth who has evidently watched way too many WWF post match wrestling interviews:

Unfortunately, and to the detriment of the much needed adult discussion on the crisis of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in our society, Alex Jones and his ilk have a very big following of zombie eyed numbskulls across this country. It is a sad commentary on the state of this country's media complex that a ratfucking liar and fraud like Alex Jones is allowed to spew his garbage on national media outlets and nobody has the fucking courage to call him out on his demonstrable deception and lies. It is sad and pathetic.

This is the level of stupidity that our society has lowered itself to. It really does remind The Gadfly of a movie called 'Idiocracy' that came out a few years ago which touched on this very same subject - the dumbing down of America via the programming of our corporate media:

Which brings The Gadfly full circle to the opening question of this post - what does one do when a sizable portion of your fellow citizenry has simply gone off the rails on the Crazy Train??

Honestly - The Gadfly does not have an answer. You can't teach common sense. People either have it or they don't. For those that do have it, it's pretty frightening to watch as more and more of our fellow citizens demonstrate their utter lack of such sense and even more so as it appears that they are dominating the national dialogue.

Something has to change dramatically and soon. Let's just hope that we can figure it out before the idiots gain power over everything.

Friday, January 11, 2013

"Here's something people need to understand about gun nuts: They really think the world revolves around them. And they simply do not care that the loving object of their fetish is certain to inspire fear and terror, or at the very least profound concern, in every person they encounter -- and quite reasonably so."

Shazam!! And with that one, uncomplicated, crystal clear observation, C&L's Dave Neiwert hits the nail on the proverbial fucking head as to what it is that makes the gun goon guys tick.

The Gadfly himself has encountered a few of these loony toons gun goon guys (see picture above for an example/portrayal) during his lifetime and quite honestly, whenever he thinks of them, he actually experiences pangs of fear for anyone who spends any extended amount of time (family & friends for instance) within the reality denying bubble of their Dirty Harry worldview existence.

It's these guys and not the pheasant and deer hunters or the sport shooters that the Gadfly feels shouldn't be allowed within a country-fucking-mile of a firearm, much less one that has the capability to mow down 30 toddlers in the amount of time it takes to click a mouse button a couple of dozen times.

"I spent a career carrying typically either a M16, and later a M4 carbine," he said. "And a M4 carbine fires a .223 caliber round, which is 5.56 millimeters, at about 3,000 feet per second. When it hits a human body, the effects are devastating. It's designed to do that. That's what our soldiers ought to carry."

"I personally don't think there's any need for that kind of weaponry on the streets and particularly around the schools in America. I believe that we've got to take a serious look -- I understand everybody's desire to have whatever they want -- but we have to protect our children and our police and we have to protect our population. And I think we have to take a very mature look at that."

The Gadfly highlighted the word "mature" in that statement for a very good reason.

The vast majority of the people on the gun goon guy side of the debate, and particularly the most vocal ones, are quite simply put - the living antithesis of the word "mature."

Would you care to have The Gadfly provide proof of that statement?

Very well. Here you go:

Two men carrying assault rifles on their backs said they were simply exercising their Second Amendment right, but police said they scared plenty of people.Calls started coming in to 911 dispatchers shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday. Callers said two men with guns strapped to their backs were walking through the area of Southeast Seventh Avenue and Spokane Street in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood.Officers arrived in the area and contacted both 22-year-old men. They were carrying rifles openly on their backs and were valid concealed handgun license holders in Oregon.The men told officers they were hoping to educate the public about gun rights.Officers explained that they were likely to continue generating 911 calls from alarmed people in the area, which would require a police response. Officers reported neither man seemed interested in those concerns.

So these two childish "men" when informed by police that their actions were frightening their fellow citizens and were likely to result in additional unnecessary 911 calls - what was the response of these mindless little shit heels? A mere, smug shrug of the shoulders.

The Gadfly almost wishes that that story had ended with the additional news that an armed bystander had mistaken the two gun goon guys for potential mass shooters, whipped out his own 9mm and plugged some lead in both their dumb asses as a result. It would have been Karmic glory in all of it's mesmerizing beauty.

And with that - The Gadfly rests his case in the matter of 'Are Gun Goon Guys Immature By Nature'?

To make a long rant short --- it is way past time for Americans to start having a serious conversation about these mass shootings and the ease of availability of these weapons of mass destruction to the general populace. And let us ensure that only serious, thoughtful, wise and caring adults are allowed at that debate table when (and if - just being realistic) that time comes.